A judge has approved a settlement between JetBlue Airways Corp. and two people who sued the airline after a block of ice allegedly fell from an aircraft and crashed through the roof of their Inglewood home on New Year’s Day in 2024.
Torrance Superior Court Judge Alan B. Honeycutt gave his nod to the accord on Wednesday. JetBlue lawyers stated in their previous court papers that the proposed accord with plaintiffs Michael Reese and Leah Ferrarini is fair to both sides while also contending that the airline could have presented “compelling defenses to contest liability” had the case gone to trial.
The proposed settlement amount is redacted, but the plaintiffs contend that the roof damage was just over $11,000 and that therapy for the two amounted to about $5,600, according to the JetBlue attorneys’ court papers, which additionally state that Reese maintains he lost $84,000 in earnings because he was off work from May 2024 to February 2025.
According to the suit, the plaintiffs were peacefully in their home on West 102nd Street on New Year’s Day 2024 and barely escaped injury when at about 8:10 p.m. a large block of ice from a JetBlue aircraft crashed through the roof of their home directly over their bed. The flight originated in New York and was headed to Los Angeles International Airport, the suit states.
An investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration into maintenance and engineering system records for the aircraft revealed a history of potable water issues dating back to July 2023 and that the aircraft was suspected of dropping clear ice on another property in August 2023, according to the suit.
At the time of the October 2024 filing of the negligence/trespass suit, the plaintiffs said they no longer felt safe in their own home because of ongoing fear that they may be struck again by falling debris from an aircraft, the suit stated.